Projects

The Preserve Granbury House

BEFORE

The Preserve Granbury House was built circa 1881, and was designated as a City of Granbury Historic Landmark in 2008 because of its local architectural and historic significance. Architecturally, the house is one of two known existing historic resources built of lumber planks during Granbury’s early settlement period (late-1850s to late-1870s). Builders constructed the house with vertical 1″ x 12″ planks with joining battens and no framing. It still has its original vertical plank wall construction intact, although it was later covered with clapboard.

Located along the Lipan Highway (FM 4) – a major entry to Granbury from the northwest – the house is shaded by a large oak tree that the Texas Forestry Services dates to at least 500 years. The City designated the tree as a Granbury Historic Landmark in 2002.

The House reflects the influences of two architectural styles popular in the United States during the middle of the 19th century. The steep central gable on the front of the house flanked by gabled dormers reflects the influence of Gothic Revival styles, while the central portico supported by classical columns and pilasters reflects the influence of Greek Revival architecture. The house is a “folk I-house” with an elongated two-story narrow form. It originally had two chimneys, one flanking each side of the house. There is a central dogtrot – a feature that reflects the heritage of settlers that migrated to North Central Texas from the Upland South after the Civil War – described by cultural geographer Terry Jordan Bychkov as a “cultural icon” (Jordan-Bychkov, 2003, p. 40).